Try pomegranates

Hi FlyboyFL,
What do you know about dwarf pomegranates? I love pomegranates. I've eaten them since I was a kid. Always a treat. Right now, I'm working through a box of 6 from Costco. I've had a dwarf "bush" for about a year now. I think it was originally just in a gallon container. It is really growing. Do they fruit or are they just ornamental?
Thanks,

I don't rightly know. Mine still has a couple of fruit -- that are just withering. Guess I'll have to wait for spring. It was 50 degrees here last night. Ugghh.

Be well -- and keep warm.

: )

From what I have heard, the dwarf trees are more for decoration. If you want them for the fruit a full-sized tree ("Wonderful" is considered about the best) is the one to look for.

katiebear

katie~

My limited knowledge says you are right.

Be well

: )

Mahalo. I will look for Wonderful then.

I got a dwarf pomegranate, and when I did I was under the impression it would fruit. It's only a year old and hasn't fruited yet, but I certainly hope it does. I don't remember where I got it, though.

MY grandkids gave me a dwarf pom. tree w/a fruit on it. The tag warned that this fruit was not edible. That tree "died".

Ann

Ugh.

My understanding is that the fruit of the dwarf does not taste very good. Also, being so small it would not have much pulp. I don't think it would be poisonous, just not very tasty.

If you want fruit, get a "Wonderful" pom. It's been around for years and the "improved" varieties aren't as good.

katiebear

Are pomegranates hardy to zone 7? I'd love to plant a couple.

I'm in the sub-tropics so I don't know. I've seen them flowering in Sacremento but I don't know if they fruited there.

katiebear

Wikipedia says that they are frost tolerant down to -10, but they do not like wet feet or a lot of humidity. I can guarantee you that it is very humid in Little Rock, Ark. and they were doing great. It may be that they were planted out in the open and maybe pruned to allow air movement through the bushes.

They grow wild here in 8b. Kids play with them like baseballs. Dogs fetch them. We are blackland clay soil here and they seem to do okay.

I think it's worth a shot to see how they do. Lord knows we're humid, but I've never known us to get below zero.

It's very humid here and they thrive. They also are very salt tolerant.

kb

Pomegranates often die back to the roots if the lows are in the 0-10F range. There are a few varieties from Russia which are supposed to increase the survivability in the 0-10F range. Kazake is considered the most hardy of those. Edible Landscaping also sells some hardy Russian ones. My approach has been to cover mine in the winter. If you don't grow hardy varieties and don't cover them in the winter, then it is unlikely you will have any luck long-term. You may get lucky for a couple years but then the cold one comes along and ZAP.

Scott

Stop watching the news. For good tidings check out the trees.

This is the harbinger of good things to come on my pomegranate tree.

At least we can be reasonably certain that this will be healthy come autumn.

: )

BEAUTIFUL! I'm jealous; it is still warm then cold then warm here. Typically Oklahoma spring. 67 degrees one day then 30 the next.

April

April~

Hang in there.

Spring is not far behind.

Be well

: )

FlyboyFL
How long did it take for your pomegranate to produce fruit? I planted my Wonderful pomegranate in the fall of 2006. It has produce flowers that have fallen off twice. Here is a picture taken today (third flowering)and I am getting pretty anxious to see fruit. I this normal for a pomegranate?
Oldude

oldude~

I got fruit the first year.

I am an old action person when it comes to reproduction. I help the fruit along.

I take a Q-tip and gently swab the pistils of each blossom with the same Q-tip. It pays to hum soft music while you do this..

For pomegranates i use biblical psalms.

(In case you try it with Asian pears, hum "Sakura, sakura", I know it's for cherry blossoms, but it also works with the pears).

Be well

: )

Flyboy
I don’t know if I can pimp a pomegranate but I will drink a beer and sing a song as I walk through the orchard. The beer will make me feel better but I don’t think that my singing will help anything.
Oldude

Soulful humming might also work.

Be well

: )

Has anyone bought a pomegranate at the grocery and grown it from seed? I would like to try but I'd like to know if it's worth the effort.

Yes.

See my article:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1816/

The first picture is my seed-grown pomegranates from a fruit purchased in the grocery store; the other pics are not mine.

The same bushes overwintered nicely in my garage again this year.

April

Aunt_A~

Great article.

The only variation I use is to break the fruit apart and capture the arils under water

No strain -- no stain.

We get the POM concentrate. It comes frozen and must be kept refrigerated once you start to use it. Especially great in martinis.

Be well

: )

.

Thanks!

(And thank you again for the use of your pics; your pictures MAKE the article!)

April

Be well

: )

Another season.

They look more bountiful. Some fruit drop. already. but the buds keep a-popping.

Be well

: )

That is so beautiful! I can't wait for mine to bloom. I put one out last year, and it is really beautifully green and full of leaves, but no blooms yet. We had one hard freeze and I was afraid it was damaged but it has come out great. My grandmother had one when I was a child and I love eating them.

Maggie~

Watch for the little red buttons along the branches. The freeze should have helped .

Be well

: )

Here they start coming.

It's loaded.

Be well

: )

Sad to say, our Zone 7B weather had one 8 degree night which did in my pomegranate (Wonderful cultivar) in . I have lived in Zone 7 off and on for a long time and had never had 8 degrees before, although it's in the published Z7 range. I learn my lesson from time to time so here is another.

Maybe, there will be new growth from the roots, like my figs are doing (Black Mission, Celeste, Hardy Chicago). Brown Turkey was ok.

Paul

Paul: So sorry that pomegranate got bitten. Maybe it'll sprout from the root, as you say. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Angie

Getting closer. But still a couple of months to go.

I was lucky enough to get some of the winter-hardy plants brought over from Turkmenistan by the Russian botanist who sent cuttings of plants he collected to the USDA germplasm collection site at UC Davis. The details of his life are chronicled in "Pomegranate Roads":

http://books.google.com/books?id=_G59NFbNpREC&dq=%22pomegranate+roads%22&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=d0FmSt70BtSBtgf3_pn0Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4

If I can get a good survival on my cuttings I will be glad to share them, but so far I've only gotten about 3 of 25 to root for me. I will try to do more this winter!

If you register with Fedex, cuttings can be ordered from the USDA through their website and the only cost will be their Fedexing them overnight to you:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=12170

One of the members of our local Southern Fruit Fellowship ordered many cuttings and did a species trial; he got about a 60% survival last winter.

When I was in Williamsburg Virginia last spring I saw many very large pomegranates there; surely that is north of 7b? Perhaps someone closer to there can find out the variety of pomegranate at Williamsburg.

-Susan

zonkel:

I, too have a story. My BIL is connected with a very large fruit company in CA. They concentrated on almond and pistachio nuts and varied fruits. They purchased a large acreage of land that had already been under cultivation. They wanted to clear it and plant one of their already present variety of crop.

Lo and behold, the ground was already covered with pomegranate trees. The wife of the owner of the company is a transplanted Israeli and most familiar with biblical lore. The trees fascinated her and she decided to temporarily save them and investigate their utility. She, and her company, were finally convinced that this was a valuable resource. This was the start of one of the biggest producers of pomegranates and their various offshoots.

As an aside, I, too, would like one of the Russian transplants -- but I am too old to wait for fruit. Instant gratification is what I need.

Be well

d(^_^)b

It's all bedecked like an Xmas tree.

Next week I cut into the first one.

Be well

(o_O)

It is tough to get old -- and forget.

The special article today POMEGRANATE PENCHANT by APRIL (in her memory -- that is) helped me to relive this old thread.

One interesting addendum.

Judaism claims that pomegranate seeds (arils) are said to number 613—one for each of the Old Testament's 613 commandments for Jews. See -- Judaism has many more than the ten original commandments. (If one cares to count there is some number between 400 and 1400 of arils in each fruit.).

And another:

It was probabbly (according to me) a pomegranate, not an apple, that Eve gave to Adam in the Grtaden of Eden.

I still have one of my two original pomegranate trees. It is flourishing and putting out blossoms. I'll get backl to some photos tomorrow -- if anyone is still interested.

Be well

(o_O)